The owner of a Russian printing company has been called out for refusing to reproduce images of BTS because he believes the group’s members have “a non-traditional orientation.”
PinkyPop, which calls itself “a K-pop coffee shop” in Yekaterinburg, said in a series of Instagram Stories this week that it placed an order to print (presumably unauthorized) stickers, postcards and other items with images of BTS.
‘We discussed all the work and details, and placed our first order,” the café explained, according to RT (a state-controlled news agency). “After seeing the photos of the bands BTS and Stray Kids, which they were supposed to print, they began to ignore us.”
PinkyPop shared what it said was a text exchange with the printer shop’s owner, Konstantin Papulov. In one message, he said: “I have seen them – they aren’t hiding their orientation. We won’t be printing this.”
When pressed, Papulov reportedly said BTS would lead “children to become perverts” and claimed it was “stupid to support something that may leave you with no grandchildren.”
He added: “We have enough normal clients to be able to choose who to work with and who not to.”
According to Russian entertainment website Super, Papulov told reporters the images are "LGBT propaganda."
Under Russian law, the “promotion of non-traditional sexual values among minors” is prohibited.